On Saturday in New York City, there was mayhem to be had when counterprotests converged near the residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The originally-planned demonstration was the "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City: Stop New York City Public Muslim Prayer," set up by anti-Islamist Jake Lang. That was met with an opposing gathering, under the banner of “Run the Nazis out of New York City: Stand Against Hate." With those provocative conceits on open display, there was no mystery that this could devolve into a mess.
READ MORE: Watch: Man Who Allegedly Tossed 'Ignited Device' at NYC Protest Finds Out That Was a Bad Idea
While controversy was assured to take place, everything fell apart when two protesters threw a pair of what were described by authorities as incendiary devices, or IEDs. It is believed this was from the counterprotest side of the clash, as one of the assailants allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar” as he delivered his payload.
Video shows a suspect shouting “Allahu Akbar” before hurling an object into a crowd of protesters in NYC today. pic.twitter.com/86a5Mc6gER
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) March 8, 2026
The man acquired a second device from a cohort, but thankfully, neither detonated, despite being described as legitimate explosive devices with shrapnel contained inside. Both men were taken into custody. Since then, the devices have been studied, and authorities have come forward to indicate these were, in fact, made with serious explosive ordnance. Adding to this has been the discovery of a vehicle in the area with concerning contents, leading the police to cordon off the area.
READ MORE: DEVELOPING: 'Suspicious Device' Found Inside Vehicle Near NYC's Gracie Mansion
More Troubling Info About IED and Suspects at NYC Protest as Mamdani Issues Disgraceful Statement
On Sunday, Mayor Mamdani released a statement, and it was decidedly one-sided in its addressing of responsible parties. Note the way he comments on the nature and backers of the initially planned protest, but soft-pedals the counter protesters and does not go into details about who it was that brought the incendiary devices.
"Yesterday, white supremacist Jake Lang organized a protest outside Gracie Mansion rooted in bigotry and racism. Such hate has no place in New York City," Mamdani said. "It is an affront to our city’s values and the unity that defines who we are. What followed was even more disturbing. Violence at a protest is never acceptable. The attempt to use an explosive device and hurt others is not only criminal, it is reprehensible and the antithesis of who we are."
The telling aspect of the mayor's evasive blame-tossing is the timing. He gave his comments early Sunday afternoon. This was well after the two individuals were in custody and named, and after the analysis of their IEDs was made public. It is clear that he was intentionally being obtuse with the details that he had to have known
Helping in this deflection effort were the media outlets, in a rather irresponsible fashion. When delivering their reports of the protest incident, the framing of the headlines makes it clear how they wanted things to be perceived.
I'm sensing a pattern here... pic.twitter.com/3Z0JQfbp8V
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) March 8, 2026
Axios went with a similar headline, only mentioning the anti-Islam component of the protest, while avoiding who was responsible for the IED. Also joining in on the ruse was ABC News. The intent is made clear in how their online promotion follows the theme in the headline: “6 Arrested After Suspicious Device Thrown During Protest Outside NYC Mayor’s Residence.” After the network was called out for its deceptive approach to what happened, changes were seen to both the headline (now reading as “Improvised explosive device was thrown during dueling protests outside NYC mayor's home: Police”) and to the social media posts.
The deceptive headline was called out, so the network made a change.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) March 8, 2026
Notice the shift in the online post after @ABC was called out for the misleading slant they tried using on the explosives tossed by Muslim attackers. pic.twitter.com/WCoFXqOcZr
Another outlet altering its coverage was the New York Times. When the incident took place, the paper saw a need to go with euphemisms to describe what was thrown at the protest.
We’ve seen it all now. What any honest person would call an IED, the New York Times calls “smoking jars of metal and fuses.” pic.twitter.com/7DZxcv5u7w
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) March 8, 2026
The desire to sell this event as something it was not, and/or meant to deflect away from those responsible, is a glaring sign of how repugnant the press can behave with matters of this nature.
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